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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Nakhchivan City, Azerbaijan; Image Gallery

Huseyn Javid (Azerbaijani: Hüseyn Cavid), born Huseyn Abdulla oglu Rasizadeh (24 October 1882, Nakhchivan – 5 December 1941, Shevchenko, Tayshetsky District), other spellings "Husein Javid," was a prominent Azerbaijani poet and playwright of the early 20th century. He was one of the founders of progressive romanticism movement in the contemporary Azerbaijani literature, and a dissident writer exiled during the Stalin purges in the USSR.Huseyn Abdulla oglu Rasizadeh was born in 1880 to a family of a theologian in Nakhchivan in the Iravan Governorate. After completing his elementary education at a religious school in 1898, Javid pursued his mid-school education in the Maktab-i Tarbiya of Mashadi Taghi Sidgi. In 1899–1903, Huseyn Javid studied in the Talibiyya Madrasah in Tabriz. After obtaining a degree in literature at the Istanbul University in 1909, Javid worked as a teacher in Nakhchivan, Ganja and Tiflis, and starting from 1915 in Baku.

Huseyn Javid's first book of lyrical poems titled Kechmish gunlar ("The Past Days") was published in 1913. However Javid was known more as a playwright. His philosophical and epic tragedies, and family dramas introduce a new line of development in Azerbaijani literature. In his literary tragedy Sheikh Sanan (1914), Huseyn Javid philosophized about the idea of a universal religion to lift inter-religious barrier between humans. His most famous creation, Iblis ("The Satan") written in 1918, exposed all oppressive forces as the supporters of "humans are wolves to each other" philosophy and "the 20th century cultural savages", and summarized them in the character of Satan. In his works, Javid criticized any form of colonialism and oppression.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Huseyn Javid authored a number of historical epics, such as Peyghambar (The Prophet) in 1922, Topal Teymur (Timur) in 1925, Sayavush (Siyâvash) in 1933 and Khayyam (Khayyám) in 1935.

Huseyn Javid wrote during the time of Collectivization and Stalin purges in the Soviet Azerbaijan. In the worst times of totalitarianism, he refused to serve as propagandist of "revolutionary socialist achievements". Javid was arrested in 1937 on trumped-up charges of being a "founding member of a counter-revolutionary group that was plotting an overthrow of the Soviet power".

His arrest was a part of the nation-wide campaign of purge against intelligentsia. The Soviet government exiled Huseyn Javid to the Far East to the city of Magadan. He died on 5 December 1941 in the village of Shevchenko (Tayshetsky District). Huseyn Javid was officially exonerated in 1956. His repatriation came only on Javid's 100th birthday in 1982, when his remains were moved from Shevchenko back to his homeland of Nakhchivan and reburied in a mausoleum built in Javid's honor.

The Mausoleum of Momine Khatun (or Mu'mine Khatun) is located in Nakhchivan City, the capital of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in Azerbaijan. The mausoleum was most recently restored in 1999-2003, as part of the Azerbaijan Cultural Heritage Support Project of the World Bank, and also depicted on the obverse of the Azerbaijani 50,000 manat banknote of 1996-2006.It was commissioned by Ildegizid Atabeg Jahan Pahlawan (1175-1186), in honor of his first wife, Mu'mine Khatun, and completed in 1186-1187, as indicated on the Kufic style inscriptive plaque above the entrance. Its architect, Adjemi ibn Abubekr (or Adjemi Nakchivani), also built the nearby mausoleum of Yusuf ibn Kuseyir. Scholars mention that the mausoleum was originally built with a madrassa, and drawings and photographs of the site from the nineteenth century confirm that it existed as part of a religious and educational complex which no longer exists.

The mausoleum is a decagonal brick tomb tower, rising to a height of approximately twenty-five meters. It is built above a crypt and sits on a shallow base made of large blocks of red diorite. A flat roof raised on a tapering, decagonal drum covers the slightly pointed inner dome. The main entrance to the edifice faces east, while a secondary one leads to the crypt, whose vault is supported by a massive central pier.

The solid brick walls of the mausoleum are pierced by two small windows facing West, with an additional window above the main entrance. A band of inscription in Kufic characters composed of turquoise tiles runs below the muqarnas cornice. The recessed surface of its twelve exterior facets are covered with carved geometric motifs on brick, which are highlighted by turquoise tiles, and set in a rectangular frame that includes a small muqarnas crown. Inside, the burial chamber is circular in plan, with bare walls.

The Mausoleum of Mu'mine Khatun is representative of the Nakhchivan architectural tradition of the medieval era, which was heavily influenced by the works of the Azerbaijani architect Adjemi ibn Kuseyir. The Nakhchivani style differed from the Shirvani styles, prevailing in Absheron, in its use of brick as the basic construction material and the use of colored, especially turquoise enameled tiles, for decoration.

Ajami ibn Abubakr Nakhchivani (Azerbaijani: Əcəmi Naxçıvani, Persian: عجمی ابن ابوبکر نخجوانی) - (life: 12th-13th centuries) is a Muslim architect. He is also the founder of the Nakhchivan school of architecture. The influence, which he has rendered on his contemporaries and followers, is reflected in monuments of Nakhchivan architecture.

One of the ancient monuments created by Ajami is the tomb of Yusif ibn Kuseyir, known as "Atababa". The ayats (verses) from Koran are inscribed on the walls of the monument. Date of construction of this mausoleum (1161-1162 AD) was defined from its traditional built-in plate or katiba. This eight-sided mausoleum consists of the underground plinth burial place (sardaba, Persian: سردابه or cellar) and its on-ground top. Each side of this construction is decorated with various ornaments.

Masterpiece of Ajami is the Momina-Khatun's mausoleum, also known as the Atabey's Cupola - Atabei Gumbazi. Mausoleum is constructed in honor of Momine Khatun who was wife of either Atabag Shamsaddin Eldegiz himself, or that of his son Jahan Pahlavan. The date, indicated on the walls, tells us that this ten-sided monument was constructed in 1186-1187 AD. Surface of each side is completely covered by the ornaments. In spite of the fact that the upper parts of this structure have some destruction, its height today is more than 25 meters. Here also exists an underground vault and a burial place or sardaba.

One of those creations of Ajami, which partially survived up to present day, is an architectural ensemble near the Momina Khatun Mausoleum. The main building had been destroyed some time ago, only two minarets and a portal connecting them have remained. This portal was constructed in 1187 AD. In the opinion of researchers, this composition of two minarets and a portal was originally planned and designed by Ajami.

The Khanagah mausoleum in Nakhchivan strongly differs from what we already have described. While the Momina Khatun Mausoleum and other similar monuments are structures of a tower type, Khanagah mausoleum is a structure of the mixed type: its lower part has the cubic form and the upper part is eight-sided. Ornaments show that the mausoleum was made in 12-13th centuries.

Nakhchivan Juma Mosque monument belongs to Middle Ages as well, and it was also constructed by architect Ajami ibn Abubakr Nakhchivani, and is one of the monuments of Atabeyg architectural complex. It was conserved in the destroyed condition in 19th century."Memar Ajami" station in Baku metropolitan was named in honor of him.

Jalil Huseyngulu oglu Mammadguluzadeh (Azerbaijani: Cəlil Məmmədquluzadə) (22 February 1866, Nakhchivan City – 4 January 1932, Baku) was an Azerbaijani satirist and writer.Mammadguluzadeh was born in Nakhchivan into an Iranian Azeri merchant family from Khoy. In 1887, he graduated from the Gori Pedagogical Seminary and for the next ten years was involved in teaching at rural schools in Bash-Norashen, Ulukhanli, Nehram and other towns and villages of the Erivan Governorate. Mammadguluzadeh was a strong activist of the language unification movement. He condemned many of his contemporaries for corrupting the Azeri language replacing its genuine vocabulary with the newly-introduced Russian, Persian and Ottoman Turkish loanwords, often alien and confusing to many readers. Later he became deeply involved in the process of romanization of the Azeri alphabet. In 1898, he moved to Erivan and in 1903, – to Tiflis where he became a columnist for the local Sharqi-Rus newspaper published in the Azeri language. In 1906, he founded the Molla Nasraddin satirical magazine. Frequent military conflicts and overall political instability in the Caucasus forced him to move to Tabriz, Iran, where he continued his career as a chief-editor and columnist for Molla Nasraddin. He eventually settled in Baku in 1921.In 1905, Mammadguluzadeh and his companions purchased a printing-house in Tiflis, and in 1906 he became the editor of the new Molla Nasraddin illustrated satirical magazine. The magazine was Mammadguluzadeh's greatest contribution to Azeri culture, further pursuing the development of critical realism among the Azeri literati. The magazine accurately portrayed social and economic realities of the early-20th century society and backward norms and practices common in the Caucasus. In 1921 (after Molla Nasraddin was banned in Russia in 1917), Mammadguluzadeh published 8 more issues of the magazine in Tabriz, Iran. After Sovietization, the printing-house was moved to Baku, where Molla Nasraddin was published until 1931. Mammadguluzadeh's satirical style influenced the development of this genre in Iran.

In 1907, the twice-widowed Jalil Mammadguluzadeh married Azerbaijani philanthropist and feminist-activist Hamida Javanshir. He died in Baku, in 1932. A drama theatre in Nakhchivan, a street in Baku, the city of Jalilabad (former Astrakhan-Bazaar) and the town of Jalilkand (former Bash-Norashen) were named after him.

His religious views are disputed. Some sources claims that the Mammadguluzadeh was an atheist while some other argue that he was supporting Muslim democracy with being critical of the extremists and the ignorance of the religion. Due to his harsh criticisms of religion Jalil sometimes even threated with the death of extremists. Azeri philosopher Agalar Mammedov, who is atheist himself also claims that Mammadguluzadeh had no religion.

Jalil Mammadguluzadeh wrote in various genres, including short stories, novels, essays, and dramatics. His first significant short story, "The Disappearance of the Donkey" (part of his Stories from the village of Danabash series), written in 1894 and published in 1934, touched upon social inequality. In his later works (The Postbox, The Iranian Constitution, Gurban Ali bey, The Lamb, etc.), as well as in his famous comedies The Corpses and The Madmen Gathering he ridiculed corruption, snobbery, ignorance, religious fanaticism, etc.
In addition to his mother tongue Azeri, he was also proficient in Persian and Russian languages. After Molla Nasreddin, Mammadguluzadeh published several other stories including "Freedom in Iran".

Nakhchivan Airport (Azerbaijani: Naxçıvan Hava Limanı) (IATA: NAJ, ICAO: UBBN) is a civilian airport and Azeri military airbase located in Nakhchivan, the capital of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, a landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan.

Nakhchivan State University (NSU, Azerbaijani: Naxçıvan Dövlət Universiteti) is a public university located in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. It has 290 faculty members and currently enrolls 3500 students.

Founded in 1967 as a part of the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute, in 1990 it became the Nakhchivan State University. In 2003, NSU, in conjunction with George Soros' Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation opened an Education-Information Center on the NSU campus to develop areas involving education, information and law.